Koala

This large bird incubates its eggs in a purpose-built mound but now threat from habitat loss and predators are pushing it closer to extinction.

Swift Parrot

This speedy little bird travels across Bass Strait to the Australian mainland to feed on open eucalypt and box-ironbark forest each year, before returning to Tasmania to breed in the spring. Its habitat is declining and it is now critically endangered.

These agile arboreal kangaroos are losing their rainforest homes and becoming prey to predators and traffic as they try to move between areas.

Wild Futures: Conserving Australia’s Threatened Species

Conservation Volunteers Wild Futures program supports the recovery of threatened species by providing practical on-ground action to conserve Australia’s unique plants and animals in line with approved plans. We focus on a range of species and threatening processes across Australia, and working with recovery teams and other experts, we assemble new resources and eager volunteers to create a wilder future for our unique flora and fauna. Every day we are making a difference to people’s lives, together caring for our natural and cultural heritage. We are inspiring change by connecting people with nature.

It is extraordinary to think that 31% of Australian mammals are now extinct or threatened.

Why we need to act

Australia is home to some of the most incredible wildlife and plants on the planet. Changes to the landscape as a result of human activity have put many of these unique species at risk. Since European settlement many species of birds, animals and plants have already become extinct.

Ecosystems, species and genes are the three main components of life on earth and are all continuing to show signs of decline. Habitat damage, over exploitation, pollution, invasive species and climate change are the five principal pressures that are directly driving wildlife loss. These pressures are remaining constant or increasing in intensity (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2010).

The highly distinctive and mostly endemic Australian wildlife has suffered an extraordinary rate of extinction, 10% of the 273 endemic mammals over the last 200 years. A further 21% of Australian endemic mammals are now assessed as threatened, indicating that the rate of loss (of one to two extinctions per decade) is likely to continue. Likewise with Australia’s birds, 2.2% are now extinct and a further 11.8% are threatened.

The real significance of species loss is poorly understood and often over-simplified. But without doubt we are losing forever the functions that species contribute to our world: ecosystem regulation, pest control, good soil and water quality, pollination and seed dispersal.

Conservation Volunteers is taking action

Join us in ensuring the survival of our 10 Wild Future species that have been chosen because the species is at risk nationally and or at the sate level, and where volunteer action can make a demonstrable benefit to the survival of the species. Volunteers are actively: